Worship Musician May 2019 | Page 133

had recorded a video and he said, “Mike, if it Los Angeles there was sometimes a stigma if lot in the studios about how much weight and wasn’t for you I wouldn’t have made it.” That’s you played any Jazz. When I first got into the sound and beauty you can put behind one a deep connection! sessions scene they said, “Don’t tell them note to unlock a song. I was young and wild, I you play Jazz.” So Keltner would get me onto wanted to play, I had that fire. Also, with the African-American art form the things with Ry Cooder, and some of the other whole thing with Jazz is that it’s folkloric - it’s producers would say, “Well doesn’t John But playing on those records was really cool folk music of another place. So, a lot of times play Jazz?” and Jim would say, “No, he plays for me because I could channel all my emotion Jazz/African music, which became Rock n’ Roll everything. Just hire him.” into a very simple song form. Also, because the and R&B, was communicated to bands like R&B guys were the reason that I started playing Cream, who loved Jazz, or you had bands like Jim Keltner started out his life wanting to be bass, Jamerson and those Motown records, it The Rolling Stones. Recently I was playing a gig Elvin. The reason why he gravitated towards was natural for me to play on songs and play with Danilo Perez and Brian Blade in Paris, and me is because he knew Albert Stinson who grooves. What we were doing still had some Charlie Watts (drummer for the Rolling Stones) was this famous guy who died young like of that old thing from the R&B records where came to see us. Scotty LaFaro. But in my opinion, I was even we would all be in the room together playing, more taken by what Albert Stinson did. He before it went to machines and doing one guy [WM] I play Gretsch drums because of Charlie was a freak, but he just didn’t live that long. at a time. So, to catch the end of that, first down Watts, and Elvin Jones. So when I was with these guys the thing that in Costa Mesa and then up in LA, that was the was interesting to me was because I had the foundation for me as a studio musician, which I [John] And he’s a huge fan of both of those opportunity to play on so many recordings, and continue until this day. I learned a lot from being things, Charlie loves Elvin. Also, remember because Abraham Laboriel sent me on things around all of those things that we did. when we were young? I got to know Jim Keltner he couldn’t do in a way. I learned an interesting after a while and started working with him. And compositional discipline that was also really [WM] I got to work with Keltner only once, and he would get me on sessions because up in good for my Jazz playing in that I learned a the beauty of it was that it was live percussion. May 2019 Subscribe for Free... 133